title: A comparison of the reliability and stability of oro-lingual swallowing pressures in patients with head and neck cancer and healthy adults.
abstract: The ability to measure normality and abnormality and to accurately assess true changes in swallowing function over time, is important for the management of dysphagia. Despite this, there is a paucity of information regarding the stability and reliability of measurements tools used for dysphagia research. As both head and neck (H&N) cancer and its treatment(s) have been shown to significantly affect deglutitive tongue function, it is important that we have a reliable method to measure swallowing tongue function in this population. In this study we evaluate the reliability and stability of oro-lingual swallowing pressures captured from H&N cancer patients and from healthy, age- and gender-matched controls using the Kay Swallowing Workstation (KSW) fixed, three-transducer tongue pressure array. Significant differences between the two samples (H&N cancer and controls), with respect to mean peak oro-lingual pressures were recorded during swallowing. Furthermore, reliability of these measures was lower in H&N cancer patients. These differences highlight the importance of obtaining information about the reliability of dysphagia assessment tools with the specific population with whom they will be used.
authors.affiliation: Speech and Language Therapy Department, ABM University NHS Trust, Swansea, Wales, UK.
authors.forename: Ruth
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: White
authors.forename: Susan M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Cotton
authors.forename: Jackie
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Hind
authors.forename: JoAnne
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Robbins
authors.forename: Alison
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Perry
mesh_terms: D000704:Analysis of Variance; D016001:Confidence Intervals; D003679:Deglutition; D003680:Deglutition Disorders / Q000209:etiology / Q000503:physiopathology*; D005260:Female; D006258:Head and Neck Neoplasms / Q000150:complications / Q000503:physiopathology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009055:Mouth; D010045:Outpatients; D011312:Pressure; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D014059:Tongue